A life for a life
by Rosa241
Summary: It takes him a while to realise what's happening to him, how did this happen? Why did it come to this? Where is he? This will be eventual slash, so if that's not your cup of tea then don't read!
1. Chapter 1

**This takes place at the beginning of season five, therefore meaning that whatever takes place during seasons five, six and seven don't happen -obviously!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own greys anatomy, if I did I wouldn't be calling this a fanfiction**

**

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****A life for a life**

**By Rosa241**

**Alex POV**

God, I've never felt so crappy in my life. Man...maybe Bambi was right, I definitely shouldn't have gone out last night. Okay, I did **not** just think that! Jesus I wish Bailey would shut up right now...maybe I should just go, okay...now I **know **there's something wrong with me...not even **I'm **that stupid! Why is it so hot in here! God, I feel like I'm going to explode right now, oh Bailey just shut up!

**Christina POV**

Hell another damned speech from freaking Bailey, when will she get it, we're not stupid. We're doctors not children – okay maybe Alex can be a little childish at times, okay maybe all the time – but the rest of us are definitely capable of figuring this out on our own!

**George POV**

Wow, geez I hope someone can shut her up soon, she's been talking forever. I know Christina isn't going take this much longer, neither will Sloan – God knows they're not exactly the most patient of people. I don't even understand half of what she's saying, not that I can tell the girls – they'll probably just laugh at me – maybe I can ask Alex...

My gaze shifts to the older man stood by my side. I immediately note the sweat glistening off his forehead and running down his face. Why's he sweating so much? It's not even hot in here...I wonder if he's sick, wonder if I should ask him – not that he'd tell me if he was...probably wouldn't tell anyone...wait is Bailey still talking?

**Bailey POV**

"Alright?" I know most of them have already zoned out, I can tell ones who stopped listening again...low and behold they're mine. Grey's eyes are set firmly on Sheppard, the woman is obsessed! Yang looks like she could kill someone – no change there then – Stevens is listening, that damn smile firmly in place. O'malley's head is clearly somewhere else, it takes me less than a second to see where his attention is and only a second longer to see why.

"Karev?" My former interns eyes snap round to meet mine. "You okay? You er...don't look so good!"

"M'fine..." He mumbles – stubborn oaf – typical man, wouldn't admit to being sick if he got gunned down. My thoughts are interrupted as I note the sudden change in Karev's skin, he's gone pale in an instant and his breathing has increased – oh damn!

**General POV**

"Alright?" Most head's snap round and nod, despite the fact that only a few of them are still listening by now. No one notices the struggling Alex Karev as they depart, no one notices the concerned look on Bailey's face, no one notices O'Malley shaking his 'friend' to grab his attention.

"Karev? Don't give me that I'm fine 'crap' cause I can see you're not. Now stop being so damn stubborn and..." Her words trail off as her target claps his hand to his mouth in an attempt to hold back the vomit, unfortunately he fails miserably.

Doubling over Alex barely avoids O'Malley's shoes as he pukes over the floor in front of him. He can hear the disgusted comments from the girls – well Izzy and Meredith – Christina merely snorts her frustrations. A warm hand finds its way to his back and rubs comforting circles, ordinarily he'd kill the person who dared to do that but right now he can't help but feel ever so slightly thankful. He knows its O'Malley, he can tell. Another wave of nausea hits him like a freight train and despite his attempts he can't help but puke miserably once again.

"Crap! What did you eat?" Yang's voice grates straight through him.

"Shut up..." Alex mutters, still bent over, hands clutching his now aching stomach. A third wave of bile rises before Bailey seems to come back to her senses.

"Alright, Karev, go home. Now."Not needing to be told twice he heads towards the locker room mumbling something about stupid hangovers. "Now, the rest of ya'll get to work, and get someone to clean that up."

With that her formers interns – minus one – disperse and head over to start their morning rounds, except for O'Malley who can't seem to tear his eyes away from the locker room door. After a few seconds he finally heads off, knowing he has no choice but to carry on with his day.

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**Yeah! Had this in my head for a while now, thought I'd get it down on paper.**

**Alex: Okay, so what's wrong with me? **

**Not telling you!**

**Alex: So there is something wrong with me?**

**You just puked over the hospital floor, was that not obvious?**

**Alex: So what's wrong with me?**

**We're going round in circles...review and maybe he'll stop bothering me!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, chapter two now here.**

**Disclaimer:**** I own nothing!**

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**Chapter Two**

**By Rosa241**

"Okay, where the hells O'Malley, he was supposed to be going over this patients notes with me?" Sloan questions the group of girls; he really hates people being late. In truth he was merely pissed off because Alex couldn't be here, apparently he'd gone home sick earlier on, although Karev had some serious attitude issues he was one hell of a doctor. O'Malley was good no doubt about it but Karev, there was something about the younger doctor that amazed him. Sure he panicked at times but his instincts were second to none, he very rarely made a mistake and those he did make he took in his stride. He was capable of acknowledging when he makes a mistake but he didn't take it to heart, he didn't let it affect him too much.

"Tw d luca ruu." Meredith spits through a mouthful of food.

"Translation: try the locker room." Yang announces, waving him away, all the while her eyes never leaving the book she was reading.

Walking down the hallway he couldn't help but allow himself to get angry at George. He knew he wasn't doing it on purpose but O'Malley was starting to get on his nerves, not only was the girl he liked in love with him, but now he doesn't show up when he's supposed to. Opening the door to the locker room he smiles as he hears a distinct male voice.

_Prepare for annihilation_ he can't help but smile as he goes over the speech he's got in his head. Turning the corner he stops as his eyes hit a familiar figure sat on the floor, his head slumped in his arms on the bench.

"Alex?" He questions as he kneels down in front of the younger male. "Hey?" He shakes his shoulder, swearing as his hand brushes Alex's cheek. The fierce heat radiating back on his hand instantly sets aside any other thoughts that might have entered his brain.

"Something's wrong...too hot..." Alex mumbles, his voice muffled by his arms. Sloan can immediately tell there's something seriously wrong, not only would Alex never admit to something being wrong unless it was bad, but it's been a few hours since he was sent home meaning he's been here a while.

"Buddy, come on, I need you to look at me." A gasp escapes his lips as the blood dripping down his face becomes visible, as do the tears cascading from his eyes. "What the hell happened?"

"Don't know, got really hot, got sick...everything went dark..." Alex trails off, sniffling miserably as rests his head back in his arms.

Sloan quickly realises that by 'everything went dark' Alex means that he collapsed at some point.  
"Okay, come on, let's get you checked out." He holds his hand out to Alex, who merely shakes his head.

"No I can't, I can't walk...I tried..." Without warning Alex felt himself being lifted off of the ground, two strong arms holding him steady as he violently sways. Unfortunately the sudden movement did nothing for his churning stomach, causing him to vomit violently down the front of Sloan's scrubs.

"Great(!) Just great (!)" Moving slowly Sloan realises just how weak the younger male is. After several slow moments Sloan – who was practically carrying Alex by this point – made it out of the locker room. "I need some help here!"

"What the...Karev I thought I told you to go home!" Sloan noted the sudden shift in weight as Bailey spoke; somehow he managed to cling onto a seemingly lifeless Alex. "Alright let's get a gurney over here!"

Bailey was yelling loud enough to alert London as she took to Alex's left side. There was something heart breaking about carrying your semi conscious former intern to a gurney. Not an experience she wished to repeat anytime soon.

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**Not very long I know but trust me it'll get better.**

**Alex: Okay, so let me get this straight, I'm unconscious? I'm sick? and I don't just have a hangover?**

**Um...yes, yes and I'll let you know...**

**Alex: Can't you just be straight with me!**

**Nope! It's much more fun to keep you hanging!**

**Alex: (screams)**

**Sloan: You know this wasn't exactly the best chapter for me either, I got puked on!**

**Alex: At least you're still conscious!**

**Sloan: At least you don't smell like somebodies lunch!**

**Guys...Umm, I'm going to leave them to it, review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back! Apologises for leaving it for so long, in truth I completely forgot about this story since life decided to get in the way but I'm here now.**

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**Alex: Thank god! Where the hell were you? You think it's funny to leave me unconscious for so long?**

**Alex, nice to see you again. **

**Alex: Is that all you've got to say for yourself?**

**Umm...I'm sorry?**

**Alex: What's the point? She owns nothing!**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**By Rosa241**

**Alex POV**

_God my head! Man what did I do last night? Seriously the last time I had a hangover this bad was...wait, where the hell am I? What's with the room? Hold up, am I in a hospital?_

Opening my eyes fully, something I instantly regret when the light hits me full force, I can't help but groan. What the hell happened to me? Why can't I remember anything? There's something so wrong about waking up in a hospital with no memory what so ever. What exactly am I supposed to do? Scream? Yeah right! Cry? Never! Panic? Sounds reasonable...

Just as I'd finally begun to panic movement caught my eye.

"Bailey?" My voice crackles and breaks, damn when did that get so sore?

"Relax Karev, take a deep breath and sip some water – and I stress the word _sip_ – the last thing I want is you throwing up over me like Sloan. Man you really made a mess of him." She giggles whilst handing me some water.

She keeps speaking but for some reason her words by pass my ears, it's like they're suddenly filled with cotton wool or something. White spots begin to enter my vision before the black cloud of unconsciousness takes over.

It's several hours later when I finally come round once again, this time feeling decidedly worse than before. My head is pounding so much more, the churning in my stomach seems to have increased ten fold and generally everything ache's a great deal more.

"What happened?" I whisper to what I think is an empty room. "Oh..." I moan pathetically, what the hell is wrong with me?

"We're working on it." I immediately know that voice, it's Bambi. "They're not sure what it is right now but we'll figure it out." He sounds panicked...when the hell doesn't he sound panicked...but this time I fear it's with good reason. Judging from how I feel right now there is something seriously wrong with me, something despite the hangover I can only guess isn't making this any better. I'm a doctor I'm not stupid enough to pass this off as flu or something else...there's something really wrong with me. I know it.

"You'll be okay." Bambi, why the heck is he still here? "Bailey's good, she'll figure it out before too long."

"Wait...Bailey's treating me?" My words come out slightly above a whisper, my voice cracking horribly as I speak. I only notice now just how sore my throat is, no sooner do I think it than a glass of water is placed at my lips. Damn Bambi, he's like a freaking mind reader! I take a sip and quickly regret as my throat protests the action. I wince incredibly as the water sends a searing, burning pain down the back of my throat; it seems to last forever before finally dying down.

"Ow..." Sipping the water was a bad plan! Now it hurts to speak. Damn!

"Don't worry Alex, you'll be okay." He's said that already. "We'll find out what's wrong." Said that too. I half feel like punching him in the face, but then again that requires energy, of which I have non. Before long I feel myself falling back to the land of black clouds, all the while wondering, what the hell is wrong with me?

**George POV:**

I've been sitting here for almost three hours now, pretty much since he was admitted. He woke up for a few minutes when Bailey was here but he's been out of it since. I don't know why I volunteered for this, well I guess it's better than spending the day with Sloan, that guy kind of freaks me out. A small groaning breaks through my thoughts.

"What happened? Oh..." Alex's eyes flitter open and closed for a few seconds.

"We're working on it." He seems confused for a moment before his eyes settle on me. I see him make to speak before deciding against it, the wince in pretty obvious. I quickly grab the glass of water and hold it out for him. I hope he'll take a sip, I know how stubborn he can be. Thankfully he drinks it without complaint, well almost without.

"Ow..." He's visibly wincing now.

"Don't worry Alex, you'll be okay." I've already said this but what more is there? "We'll find out what's wrong with you." Thankfully his eyes flutter shut and he passes out again. It's not that I want him to not be conscious it's just that we don't really talk that much; I never know what to say to him. I think that's got something to do with the gigantic crush I have on him. Yes, I know how lame that sounds but it's true. At first I thought it was just admiration at his doctoring skills, yeah right! I – George O'Malley – am completely and hopelessly in love with Alex Karev.

It's not like you can blame me I mean, he's pretty hot. I seriously have to stop myself from drooling in the locker room sometimes, that's when I fail to stop myself from staring – something that's been getting increasingly difficult since he's been working out lately. He can be an arrogant jerk sometimes but that doesn't bother me. I think it's a defence mechanism, if we can't get close to him then we can't hurt him. At least that's what I like to think. In my own little world that's why he's like that. I know that makes me sound kind of crazy but I can't help but picture the two of us together when my mind wanders. I've thought about telling him before but I chicken out every time. Of course now I've started thinking about Alex my mind has completely wandered.

I've always wondered what dating Alex would be like, would he be gentle? Rough? Caring? There's so much that could happen between us...yeah I know I'm deluded but hey! Everyone can dream right. The door opening interrupts my thoughts.

"How's he doing?" Bailey questions as she heads towards the bedside, she frowns as she feels his forehead. "He's still got a fever." She quickly takes his temperature, frowning once more as she look at the numbers. "102.4 degrees, man what is going on with you Karev."

"We don't have a diagnosis?" I can hear the worry in my voice, I'd have thought by now they'd have had something at least.

"No, the lab's been having some technical problems, not to mention they've got a huge back log and Karev is not top of the list." Bailey didn't seem concerned so maybe I shouldn't be either, easier said than done. I see her slowly draw her eyes over Alex's chart, I can't quite tell what she's looking for but she's looking for something alright.

"His fevers gone up by a degree and a half in the last two hours since it was last checked. What is wrong with you boy?" She slowly begins checking things clearly trying not to wake him up.

"Looks like he's got the beginnings of a throat infection, his tonsils are starting to look white not to mention his throat is pretty damn red." She rattles off her observations; I think she knows I'm worried.

"What about strep throat? That would account for everything, fever, nausea, sore throat..."

"Maybe, except his lymph nodes aren't swollen enough, neither are his tonsils...and I don't remember him complaining about abdominal pain either..." It's almost as if a light has switched on inside her head. She suddenly lifts his t-shirt, swears loudly and heads out the door. It takes me a moment before I put the pieces together and the answer is staring me in the face like an oncoming train.

**Bailey POV:**

_I've said it before and I'll say it again...these interns are going to be the death of me! If it's not Yang and Grey with their stupid 'relationships' or Stevens with some other life altering news – seriously that girls like a one woman drama magnet – then it's those boys and their ego's. When are those two going to realise they like each other? O'Malley's 'little' crush hit my radar months ago, what with the damn staring it was pretty damn obvious but Karevs was a lot harder to spot. It wasn't until two weeks ago when I caught the man staring at O'Malley's butt..._

"How's he doing?" O'Malley snaps out of whatever day dream he's in – probably fantasising about Karev – I don't wait for an answer instead I feel his forehead. "He's still got a fever." I quickly take his temperature, what the heck is wrong? "102.4 degrees, man what is going on with you Karev."

"We don't have a diagnosis?" Ooh even thinking about diagnosis' gets my blood boiling, those lab rats have got a lot to answer for!

"No, the lab's been having some technical problems, not to mention they've got a huge back log and Karev is not top of the list. His fevers gone up by a degree and a half in the last two hours since it was last checked. What is wrong with you boy?" I quickly start checking him over, maybe I can find something...by the time those stinking lab rats have get this sorted he'll be worse than ever.

"What about strep throat? That would account for everything, fever, nausea, sore throat..."

"Maybe, except his lymph nodes aren't swollen enough, neither are his tonsils...and I don't remember him complaining about abdominal pain either..." O'Malley's words turn a light on somewhere in the back of my head. Lifting his shirt reveals a bright red rash that confirms my worst fears. Swearing loudly I shoot out of the room faster than I thought humanly possible armed with a diagnosis that makes everything so much worse.

Scarlet Fever...my intern has scarlet fever!

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**Tada! There we go Alex a diagnosis...**

**Alex: SERIOUSLY! You're giving me scarlet fever!**

**Yes, personally I think it's a good plot.**

**Alex: Well **_**I**_** think you've gone completely insane...**

**Be careful...I can make it worse!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hehe...hi?**

**Alex: Seriously! What the hell happened to you? What did you just decide 'oh I know I'll leave Alex hanging **_**even**_** longer?**

**Would it help if I told you I fell down the stairs?**

**Alex: no!**

**If I told you I had to have two operations?**

**Alex: no cause you managed to update your other stories!**

**Yeah well my laptops been having some temper tantrums of late so...**

**Alex: No excuse!**

**Just do the disclaimer or you might find yourself with something worse than scarlet fever!**

**Alex: She owns nothing...(whispers) thankfully**

**Heard that!**

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**Chapter Four**

**By Rosa241**

"Alright let's get some penicillin, anti-inflammatory drugs and notch up his pain relief...this is going get worse before it gets better." Bailey motioned for George to get moving having assigned him to Alex's constant care. In her logic he'd been around him this long, if he wasn't infected by now then he wasn't going to be. "O'Malley, keep an eye on his temperature if it gets above 104 you page me _and only me_ straight away. Use the icepacks and cloths to try to lower it. If he wakes up you don't tell him anything, you hear me?"

George merely nodded. Truth be told he was still in shock. He knew how dangerous Scarlet fever could be, especially if left unchecked – which Alex's was...at least for a time. Admittedly now it was getting treated but how much damage has the delay in treated caused? Were their efforts too late? He also couldn't help feeling somewhat guilty. He'd known this morning that something had been wrong with Alex, something other than a hangover, but he hadn't done anything about it. He'd walked away. Would that prove to be fatal? A murmur from beside him brought him from his thoughts.

"Shh..." Smiling down at his charge George pressed the damp cloth to Alex's burning forehead. "You're going to be fine."

Alex merely grunted in response whilst shooting George a confused glare. Well he supposed it would have been a glare if it wasn't for the fact that his eyes rolled back into his head moments later. As Alex fell unconscious George felt even guiltier than before. In that moment George made a promise to himself: he would look after Alex regardless.

-**Greys Anatomy-**

"Man where the hell is O'Malley? I've tried calling him like a hundred times!" Izzy moaned as she flopped down onto the sofa. "Bet he's with Callie..."

"Izzy...Callie and George broke up...not to mention she's into girls now...anyway I thought you and George had nothing, you know no chemistry?" Izzy shrugged slightly. Whilst it was true she and George weren't compatible when they were dating but she still considered herself his best friend. She felt it was her duty to make sure he wasn't trying to get back with _her._ Izzy had never liked Callie. She couldn't pin point why but she'd never liked her. She wasn't good for George. There were very few people who were good for him as a matter of fact.

"Well that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep looking out for him. Him and Callie aren't right together." She huffed slightly before pulling out her phone once again. _George quit ignoring me..._

**-Greys Anatomy-**

Mark couldn't help but sigh as he gazed at the younger doctor lying in the bed. He looked so helpless, so...not Alex. Alex Karev was feisty, he was arrogant and cocky...Alex Karev did NOT lie in a hospital bed looking like death warmed up. For some reason Mark had developed a soft spot for the younger doctor. Despite his somewhat complacent attitude Mark could tell that Alex cared deeply for his patients, he cared more than most.

Mark always thought that was why the two had formed such a connection to each other. They were similar in many ways…yet very different at the same time. Both tried hard to keep up the façade of the carefree doctor, but on the inside they both cared deeply for their patients and found it difficult not to form an emotional attachment. Neither found it easy to truly let someone in and only showed themselves to people who would be in their lives forever. The main difference between them…and it was one that Mark thought imperative was that Alex seemed to be allowing people into his life, slowly…but surely he was allowing people in. Mark had never quite managed that, he only

He'd stood by the window for just long enough to watch the way O'Malley was caring for Alex. He'd seen the look George was giving him so many times over the years to know what it was, it was love. George O'Malley was in love with Alex. The weird thing, he'd seen the same look in Alex's eyes. When the younger man thought no one was looking he would gaze lovingly at his crush with a longing in his eyes. It was plain to see…at least to Mark…that Alex wanted to let George in but just didn't know how. He could only hope O'Malley would stick around long enough and give Alex the time he needed.

**-Greys Anatomy-**

George frowned and cursed under his breath as he read the numbers off of the thermometer. How could this have happened? How could his temperature _still_ be rising? He knew enough about Scarlet fever to know that it caused a temperature but surely with all his efforts it would have gone down by now! Quickly making a decision he paged Bailey, only afterwards realising his mistake. Within minutes the door flew open and a rather out of breath Bailey stepped in.

"What's going on!" She quickly snatched the thermometer out of his hands and read the numbers, giving George a dark glare. "103! I told you to page me only if he was above 104! Damn you had me running down here thinking…" She trailed off at that thought, _let's not go there..._

"Sorry it's just…I think something's wrong I mean, his temperature's rising _really_ fast…which is common for Scarlet Fever but…isn't this progressing a little too quickly?" George could see anger still covering her face but a flicker of concern was evident in her eyes. She made a few notes, took a rather thorough look over Alex and left the room, after of course reminding George only to page her if Alex went above 104. He refrained from reminding Bailey that what she'd actually said had been slightly different than what she thought, he may be on good terms with her but he wasn't stupid.

"At least she doesn't think I'm crazy…least I hope not." George murmured to himself as he restarted his attempts to cool his charge down.

**-Greys Anatomy-**

Bailey knew O'Malley was right, he may be a fool sometimes but the boy wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what she knew…there was more to this than met the eye. She had a sneaking suspicion that this strain of Scarlet Fever was in fact a mutated strain, she'd seen once before and knew how much more dangerous it could be. However she'd have to wait for the lab to confirm that one. Right now she had a more pressing matter.

Scarlet Fever was contagious…very contagious. That meant that she needed to find out how Karev had got it and make sure no one else was at risk. The hospital had a policy, about ten years ago a guy had come in with a tropical disease and had infected most of the hospital, since then all doctors, nurses and _anybody _who worked in the hospital was immunised against diseases like Scarlet Fever. Of course there is always a chance of someone's body rejecting the vaccination – obviously Karev's had – but most were protected. She needed to find where this had come from and fast.

**-Greys Anatomy-**

Groaning as light flooded his eyes Alex couldn't help but swear, or at least he would have done if his mouth didn't feel like he'd been munching on cotton wool in his spare time. Gazing round he could see George flitting about,_ what in the hell was he doing?_

Something cold attached itself to his neck and he couldn't help but groan as the coolness swept through his body. _Why the hell is it so hot? Hospital needs to do something about this damn air conditioning…_ His thoughts trailed off as something cold and damp attached itself to the other side of his neck. Sighing again he closed his eyes. _God I'm tired…_

As Alex's eyes closed George groaned in frustration. He tried talking to Alex but it turns out he was far from being able to understand what was going on. In a way it was a blessing, Alex could be blissfully ignorant and he didn't have to worry, and they didn't have to worry about him freaking out. On the other hand it meant that the fever had truly taken hold and that they were starting to lose the battle. George blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall and quickly sent the attending nurse for some more ice packs. If this thing wanted Alex it was going to have to go through him first.

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**See Alex, I'm giving you your own personal caretaker**

**Alex: *sighs* I'm never going to win am I?**

**Yeah! He's learning!**

**Alex: I wouldn't insult me otherwise I might just leave you short a main character!**

**Oh you can't leave...I control you, try to leave and I'll pull out the pink fluffy bunny slippers!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello world...I'm back!**

**Alex: Yipee(!)**

**You don't seem excited, surely you should be? Maybe you'll get better now.**

**Alex: I highly doubt it...(whispers) you're sadistic**

**George: You shouldn't insult her, she could make it worse!**

**Thank you George, you should listen to him Alex...(door slams)...or maybe not...care to do the honours George?**

**George: She owns nothing!**

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**Chapter Five**

**By Rosa241**

**Christina POV:**

_Wow! Never thought I'd admit this but I actually miss the old Alex...damn I must be coming down with something. _I couldn't help peaking at the rash that was covering his chest, dang that thing is nasty, all red and blotchy. Poor Karev...I know how nasty scarlet fever can be; from what I know it isn't usually fatal...at least not when it's been treated correctly. Of course Alex could have been suffering for a couple of days before he collapsed because he's a typical man and men cannot admit to being sick.

George is worried about him, hell I think everyone is...it isn't everyday a friend is diagnosed with something like this. Alex and I have never really seen eye to eye but after the Rebecca incident I've grown to respect him a lot more. From what Izzy told me...and from what Alex told her, his mother had a mental disorder and he was the one who looked after her. I'd always thought that Alex was just you're average jerk but Izzy had confided in me and Meredith a while back about Alex's mother. After Ava, or you know Rebecca, got committed he lashed out a lot at her. When we asked why she put up with it she told us about his mother, needless to say we were _ever so slightly_ shocked. I had a feeling that there was more to the story but I wasn't about to push, things like this are _way_ too personal to just bring up in conversation.

Looking at the clock I realise it's been almost a half hour since George asked me watch over Alex. I just so happened to be passing when he said he needed a shower and a change of clothes, not surprising considering that he's been constantly at Alex's bedside for the last 24 hours.

Thinking of George gets my mind working. It's been a couple of months since I noticed that George had a crush on Alex...well I say noticed, in truth George confessed it to me after Meredith and I got him madly drunk. Luckily George doesn't remember anything about that night so I was spared his awkward next day stuttering. It was about a week ago when I noticed that George's feelings were reciprocated, practically caught Alex drooling whilst watching him change. Hopefully they'll realise it soon and stop dancing round each other. Mind you, when Izzy realises George is no longer pining for her she'll be _pissed_. Izzy a great girl but she's a little one track when it comes to George. As Alex shifts slightly in his unconscious state I push all thoughts of George and Izzy out of my mind.

_Come on Karev...stop being such a damn drama queen and get your butt back to the land of the living. George is going stir crazy without someone to blush over..._

**-Greys Anatomy-**

"You okay Bailey? You look like you're about to puke." Derek joked as he wandered over to the older woman. "Although if you're going to you're in the best place for it."

When she didn't respond Derek sighed, he knew where her brain was, it was in the same place Mark's had been all day. With Karev. Mark had mentioned he'd collapsed, the next thing he knew he'd been diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. As much as Bailey might like to deny it she cared about her former interns, and she had a soft spot for Karev. She knew his past and judging from what Meredith had told him he had one _hell_ of a past.

"So, Karev getting any better?" Derek already knew the answer was no but he figured it might make her start talking. "Miranda?"

"No...he's getting worse, a lot worse. His temps gone to 104 twice, so far we've managed to bring it down but the penicillin isn't working. I've swapped him over to Clindamycin a few hours ago and started praying that it has some sort of effect." Her words tumbled out so fast that if Derek didn't know Miranda the way he did then he would have sworn she was on the verge of crying.

"Well we both know that in 30% of cases scarlet fever antibiotics can prove to be ineffective." He realised what he'd said a moment too soon. "Oh um...but I'm sure that Karevs going to pull through. He's a fighter...it's what fighters do."

"I hope so. It's just driving me crazy trying to find out where this came from. I don't remember having anybody come in with Scarlet Fever recently...and if I don't find out where it came from we could have a god damn epidemic on our hands!" Miranda all but yelled, punctuating her words with a growl at the end.

"Okay...okay. You're stressed out, it's uh...it's hardly surprising so I'll tell you what. You focus on Karev and I'll find out where the scarlet fever came from." The look Miranda gave him in that moment was one of total and complete gratitude. It wasn't hard to realise that she'd been under a lot of strain, just this morning a bus crash brought thirteen people in, four emergency surgery's, three in coma's, five deaths and just one escaped with minor injuries. It'd been a bad morning and judging from the way Karev was going it wasn't getting any better.

"Sheppard you are a life-"She stops suddenly as her pager goes off, eyes widening and swearing loudly she tears off.

**-Grey's Anatomy-**

"George seriously slow down! You're going give yourself heart burn at this rate." Meredith wrinkled her nose at the speed George was ploughing through the dinner Izzy had forced him to eat. Thankfully George had crumbled and had agreed to eat it, if he was going to be staying at the hospital he was going to need his strength...and also Izzy would shut up about him ignoring her.

"Sorry." He swallowed before carrying on. "But I promised Christina I wouldn't be too long and I really want to get back to Alex so..." With that he continued eating at his frenzied pace.

"You know staying at the hospital for so long isn't good for you. You should stay home tonight." Izzy said casually, not noticing the way George was looking at her she continued. "Get someone else to look after Alex for tonight; he'll still be there in the morning."

"Maybe not..." Seeing the look Meredith was giving him he continued. "He didn't respond to the penicillin so after the second time him temperature went above 104 Bailey switched him to Clindamycin." Meredith winced in response before sighing heavily.

"He's really bad huh?" She gave George a sympathetic look. "Well then you make sure you take good care of him, and besides he'll be fine. Scarlet fever is totally treatable and he'll be fine." George knew she was reassuring him, she was right, Alex would be fine.

"Meredith!" Izzy hit her on the arm whilst scolding her. "You shouldn't be encouraging him!"

"Encouraging me! Encouraging me to do what? Look after my friend? Do my job? Make sure he gets better?" George could hardly believe what he was hearing. How could she be so thoughtless? "Alex is sick and I promised I'd help him get better. Now if you'll excuse me."

"George come on! Just stay home tonight, you know we can watch a movie, eat some junk food..." He didn't know if it was anger at her words or frustration at not being able to help Alex that made him say what he did but he couldn't help thinking he might have actually had a point.

"Do you even care that Alex could die from this? I know it doesn't happen often but Alex isn't responding to treatment and he's only getting worse." Naturally Izzy had responded that of course she cared. "Oh really? Well it sure doesn't look like it."

George had left after that feeling incredibly guilty about saying what he had to Izzy, he knew she hadn't meant any harm by what she'd said but for some reason he'd gotten so angry at her. He'd blown up at her...although...he couldn't help this tiny part of him still wondering whether just maybe there'd been more to her words than he first thought. He stopped thinking as he entered Alex's room, Bailey was there, so were Sloan and Sheppard. Machines were beeping and Bailey was barking out orders for more ice. It took less than a second for George to react.

**-Grey's Anatomy-**

"Yang? What're you still doing here?" I can't help the confusion; didn't she get off hours ago?

"George needed to get a shower and stuff so I said I'd stay for a while...what?" Apparently she'd noticed my smile, I couldn't help it but I burst into laughter. She stared at me for a moment before glancing down at herself. She quickly noticed and gave me a dark glare. One of the ice bags that had been sitting on her lap had melted and she had a rather compromising stain on her trousers.

"Oh ha ha very funny Sloan...seriously how old are you?" She sounded less than impressed.

"Maybe you should hold off on that question seeing as I'm not the one having little _accidents_ now am I?" Her response was another dark glare as she attempted to dry herself off. "But in all seriousness, I was planning on sitting with him for a while so why don't you go and head home."

It took a little more persuasion than I would have thought to get her to leave but she eventually conceded, after telling me I was a child that is. My heart sunk as I looked over Alex, he was pale as a ghost yet hot as hell (his temperature I mean) and sweat was dripping off of him...although that may have been the ice packs melting. He looked so fragile and innocent (Ha! Innocent Karev, there's a first) nothing at all like himself.

"Come on Karev rise and shine, get those eyes open quick smart. You've got even Yang worried about you, now there's a miracle – Yang DOESN'T worry – hell you've got everyone worried about you...especially O'Malley. Although I'm willing to bet that you'd be pretty pleased to find out you got O'Malley running around here like you're his world. When the hell are you going give up the act and just admit that you like him already?" Sloan gave a sad smile as he spoke. "You know I was surprised at first to realise that O'Malley liked you, but I think I'm getting it now. The girls...they love him but they treat him like a toy, something they can use when they need him and push to the side when they don't. But you've never treated him any differently, doesn't matter what happens you don't coddle him or use him, you're there for him when he needs you...even if he doesn't always realise it."

I'm brought from my thoughts as I reach across to swap the cloths around his neck, my hand brushes across his forehead and I can't contain the gasp that radiates back. Instinctively I grab the thermometer and almost hit the deck at the reading. 106! Somehow I push through the shock and page Bailey, whilst simultaneously yelling for ice packs and cloths.

Baileys by my side within minutes barking out orders for ice and cloths, we both share the briefest of looks before setting down to lower Alex's temperature. Any doctor knows what happens if your temperature goes above 106.7, he'll enter hyperpyrexia and if we can't lower it he'll certainly die. We need to cool him down NOW!

"Come on Karev! COME ON!" Another pair of hands suddenly comes into the mix, O'Malley! Where he came from I don't know but between the three of us, more bags of ice than I care to think about and plenty of water we move faster. O'Malley has tears in his eyes but he's refusing to let them fall. I'm not quite sure if the water dripping down my face is sweat or whether I'm crying, honestly I think it's the latter (not that I'll ever admit that).

"Hold on, hold on!" Bailey practically shoves O'Malley out of the way and takes his temperature. The room is thick with tension as she pulls the thermometer out and sighs. "102...he's at 102...he's safe."

"Thank god!" George whispers as I let out a breath I wasn't aware I'd been holding. I quickly wipe my eyes as Bailey starts yelling out instructions.

"Alright, O'Malley you take his temperature every fifteen minutes, it so much as breathes past 103 and you page me alright! Sloan go check where the nearest available room is...this one's a little wet." I can't help the laughter that escapes me as I gaze around the room, the floor is literally soaked (not surprising with the amount of water that we've thrown around) and Karev is drenched from head to foot. Bailey gives me a strange look, probably thinks I've gone insane, whilst O'Malley doesn't seem to notice anything. He's standing there stroking Karev's hand and smiling sadly down at him. Bailey motions for me to get going and as I leave to room I can't help but think that just maybe we're through the worst.

* * *

**So is Sloan right...is Alex through the worst? And what's up with Izzy?**

**Sloan: Least I didn't get puked on this time!**

**Nope, just really wet! **

**Alex: You want to talk about wet! Think I pretty much got that one covered...although at least I wasn't crying.**

**Sloan: Yeah I got to ask, why was I crying over **_**him**_**?**

**Alex: Cause you're a wuss?**

**I wouldn't make jokes Alex, there's lots more to come, I'm sure I can find room for some Alex tears...ooh, think I made him mad. Review and maybe he'll cheer up. See you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello world! Unfortunately Alex isn't with us today...he still refuses to talk to me after I threatened him with tears...Drama queen! **

**George: Where is Alex?**

**Locked in a cupboard until he decides to cheer up!**

**George: And locking him in a cupboard's going to cheer him up?**

**No but it stops him from yelling at me...disclaimer please!**

**George: She owns nothing...though I'm starting to think that's a good thing...**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**By Rosa241**

**George's POV:**

_Oh my god I can't believe this? If Sloan knows then who else knows? How the hell did he work it out? Well he said it was obvious but...is it really that obvious? _

I can't help thinking back to our earlier conversation...maybe he had a point...

_Flashback:_

"_Hey O'Malley...how's he doing?" Sloan's voice enters the room about a decade before he does, does he have to be so loud?_

"_Bailey swapped him over to erythromycin last night and his temperature's gone down to 101.5 degrees so fingers crossed it looks like its working." I can't keep the smile off my face at this thought...Alex is finally getting better._

"_How close are you and Karev?" He murmurs whilst gazing over Alex's chart. _

"_Well we always hated each other, well...not hated each other but I wouldn't have called us friends either...we just...we were always at loggerheads. After the whole Ava thing we've been getting along better." Naturally Sloan gives me a confused look so I explain. "I probably shouldn't tell you this but Izzy told us something Alex said to her...his mother had a mental disorder and Alex was the one who took care of her. I don't know how long he did it for but I think that's why Ava cut him up so bad, I think she reminded him of his mom. I realised after Izzy told me this that there's a lot more to Alex than meets the eye. I spoke to him after Ava got committed, he didn't deserve what happened...since then we've been getting along much better."_

_Sloan gives me a strange look, one that I have trouble reading before looking back down to the chart. We're in silence for a few minutes before Sloan speaks again._

"_So when are you going to tell him?" Apparently he realises I have no idea what he's talking about cause he carries on. "When are you going tell Karev that have feelings for him? I mean you're pretty obvious with it, blind bull could spot it a mile off!" _

"_I-um...you..." My face goes beat red and my hands start sweating as I all but run from the room, muttering some sort of rubbish about Bailey. _

_End Flashback:_

What if Sloan's right and I am obvious about it? What if Alex has spotted it? Well if he had he'd have said something by now right? But what if he _does_ know? What if he doesn't care? I mean it's a chance...If I'm as obvious as he says then Alex would have to be crazy not to see it...thus meaning that all evidence says he should know about my _little_ crush. And if he knows then...why hasn't he said anything?

My minds full of questions but one keeps coming back to the forefront of my mind..._When are you going to tell Karev that you have feelings for him? _Can I really do that?

**Bailey's POV:**

"Am I a genius or what?" Sheppard announces with a smug smile as he sits himself in the chair opposite me. Boy this had better be good! "I know how Karev got Scarlet Fever."

_Okay maybe he is a genius..._

"We already figured that his body rejected the vaccination which would leave him vulnerable to the virus should he come into contact with it. Well say hello to your virus...or at least it's carrier." He thrusts a file under my nose before continuing. "Mr T Grampson came in a few days ago with strep throat, he was treated and sent on his way. Now Alex wasn't working the case which is why he's not been mentioned in the file however I spoke to Dr Yang and she confirmed that Alex took over the patients care temporarily after she was called into emergency surgery. Mr Grampson didn't have strep throat he had the beginnings of scarlet fever but being a hypochondriac he came in early enough so that it was treated before it got to where Karev is now."

"But Karev being the stubborn fool that he is probably had the signs for a couple of days but refused to do anything about it." Despite my initial reluctance at letting Derek take over he's actually come through. "But how did the patient get scarlet fever?"

"Guys been on a round the world trip, picked it up from one of the countries he visited." That smug smile's driving me crazy.

"Well it doesn't explain why the virus developed so rapidly but it's good, I want anyone involved in the case to be checked out asap! And Derek..." He stops at the door. "Thank you." He simply nods at me before leaving.

_Well that's one thing off my list..._

**Izzy POV:**

Flicking the tv off with a groan I stand and once again begin pacing the living room. I just can't settle.

_Why was George so mad at me yesterday? Of course I care that Alex is so sick but he's getting better...and it's not like he and George are so close anyway! I know he's just worried and trying to do his job but did he really have to take it out on me? _

Flopping back to the couch I resolve myself to speak to him as soon as he gets home. He owes me an apology.

**Meredith's POV:**

"Oh come on George...something's got you in a spin...it can't be that bad." I have a sneaking suspicion that 'something' revolves around Alex, considering that it's supposed to be his day off yet he's spending it clutching Alex's hand and drifting off into space.

"If I tell you something you have to promise me you won't say anything." I roll my eyes but nod my head anyway. "Well the thing is..." And with that the flood gates are open and he tells me everything. And I do mean EVERTHING, from his crush on Alex to his little conversation with Mark yesterday.

"And I don't know what to do...I mean on the one hand I could tell him and get it over with but what if he doesn't accept it or what if he hates me for it? But then if I don't tell I might never know if anything could happen!" By this point he's pacing the room and looking increasingly distressed.

"George!" My yell grabs his attention and I see just how scared he is...oh I think I'm going to regret this. "Look, the worst thing that'll happen if you tell him is he doesn't feel the same way. Despite what some people think Alex isn't a heartless monster, he won't go crazy because you've got a crush...if anything he might just feel differently about it."

"What does that mean?" He's looking at me expectantly, god he looks so lost...Alex is going to kill me!

"I think your feelings for Alex might not be a one way thing. I'm pretty sure..." A groan from my left catches my attention. "Alex?"

A second groan and a fluttering of eyelids is all I need. Before George has even realised what's going on I've already sprinted from the room and am halfway to Bailey's office.

* * *

**You see Alex...you're waking up! And George is thinking of confessing his love for you...am I forgiven?**

**Alex: I'm going to reserve judgement for a while...I want to see if you turn me into a complete sap first. **

**Okay fine, I tried to be nice but no...just for this I'm going have you crying your eyes out like a new born baby! **

**George: I told you not to wind her up!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello world, back earlier than I was expecting!**

**Alex: Good thing or bad thing?**

**I'd keep your mouth firmly shut if I were you; you're already in my bad books.**

**Izzie: Not to cause problems but am I actually going be in this chapter?**

**Izzy! Nice of you to join us!**

**Izzie: You didn't answer my question...**

**I don't answer questions I merely create more! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**By Rosa241**

"_**What does that mean?" **__Oh my head, feels like someone's been tap dancing on my freaking skull! Oh god dammit ow!_

"_**I think you're feelings for Alex might not be a one way thing...I think..."**__ Okay time to shut her up. Unfortunately my protests come out a weak groan, but it seems to do the trick...looks like me and Grey are going to have to have a little chat!_

Reluctantly I open my eyes, closing them again moments later when I feel the light hit them. _Okay too bright!_ Apparently someone reads my mind because the next time I coax my eyes open the rooms a hell of a lot darker..._thank god!_

"Hey sleepy head, you gave us all quite a scare." And she says she's not motherly material. "You want to give us a little warning next time you're going to do that?" She smiles at me before turning to the other person – O'Malley. "I'll get Bailey."

"You erm...you thirsty?" He places a straw in front of my lips, I manage a few sips before my throat protests the action. "Oh right, bad throat...sorry..."

"What happened?" I manage to whisper out, my raw throat sending pain laced daggers throughout my nervous system.

"You're sick." _Well no duh! _"You've contracted Scarlet fever." _What! How the hell did that happen?_ "Sheppard thinks you caught it off one of the patients, apparently you're body rejected the immunisation." _Okay...so that's how it happened..._Before O'Malley can say anything else Bailey's storming into the room like a bull in a china shop, _oh boy am I going to be in for it!_

As she ushers George out of the room Meredith's words come back to me. _**I think you're feelings for Alex might not be a one way thing...**_

_Wait...does that mean..._

**Sheppard's POV:**

"Meredith no!" She tilts her head to one side, looking remarkably like a confused puppy – a damn cute one I must admit. "I can see you calculating...you're plotting something I can tell."

"I just don't want them to lose the chance they've got. George is too damn nervous to tell Alex, and Alex is too proud to admit he likes someone. They're perfect for each other and they're losing their chance at happiness...men and their egos!"

"I know they're both being stubborn but you meddling isn't going to help matters, no! No meddling Meredith I mean it!" She gives me a look, like I've just kicked her puppy. "It won't work!"

"Oh you're no fun." She kisses me one last time before scuttling off. I hope she listens; trouble is if Meredith thinks she right about something then she's going to do it no matter what.

**George's POV:**

_Honestly I don't think this day could get any better. Alex woke up, Alex __**might**__ like me, Alex woke up and did I mention Alex woke up! God I'd missed seeing those eyes. I don't think I appreciated how amazing his eyes were until I stopped seeing them everyday. His whole body is amazing but his eyes..._

"George?" Izzy's voice breaks through my thoughts. "I'm sorry...about the other day, I'm sorry. I just...I just miss my best friend that's all."

"Iz...I'm still your best friend...of course I am." I take her hand in my own, I can see how bad she feels about this. "But Alex is my friend too. He was really sick Iz, he's still sick. I'm sorry for abandoning you but Alex needed me."

"I know." She says the words but I can tell she doesn't truly mean them, she doesn't really understand. In truth I don't think she's ever gotten over Alex cheating on her, but then she fell in love with Denny and moved on...at least I thought she had. "So when did you two become friends...I thought you hated each other."

"We did...but...after the whole Ava thing and now this, I just think that...maybe we were being sort of ridiculous, you know?" She nods at me, but there's a look in her eyes...jealousy? Maybe she's not okay with me and Alex being friends. That might pose a problem...

**Alex's POV:**

"Say it." She's been prancing around here like nobodies business for the entire morning, I can tell she's just dying to say it. "Say it." She looks at me, clearly judging whether I'm up to this or not, before declaring that I am.

"How in the hell could you let it get so damn far!" _And here we go..._ "Boy you are a doctor...a doctor! How did you not see the signs! You were probably sick for a few days before you collapsed, how did you not spot it?"

"I thought it was a hangover..." _Oooh now she's pissed...oops!_

"A hang-hangover!" She's looking at me like I've got two heads – wonderful! "You mistook SCARLET FEVER for a hangover! Men! Just...men! A woman, see now a woman she would have gotten herself checked out, gotten a blood test to be safe but men...oh now a man no! No! A man just ignores it in the desperate hope it goes away...how'd that one work out for you?"

_Okay, damn I think she expects an answer...umm...time to play the I'm sick card..._

"And another thing." _Oh goodie, she'd not done. _"How long are you and O'Malley going to play this damn game?" _Okay what the hell?_ "You two are clearly crazy for each other, obviously want to be together, but both too damn stubborn to do anything about it! God you...you...URGH! Men!"

She gives me another dark look before storming out of the room, and if I'm not mistaken there's a sigh of relief and the tension releases from her shoulders as she walks. Her words however do not leave easily. She's right...I should have spotted the signs, I should have done something but I didn't...but that's not what's worrying me.

_You two are clearly crazy for each other, obviously want to be together..._

It's the reference to 'us two' that's got me...all morning I've been frying my brain over why Meredith would think about telling George about what I told her...and let me tell you wracking my brain isn't easy when it feels about as useful as a wet rag on a rainy day! Now Bailey...maybe O'Malley _does_ like me like that, then maybe he doesn't like me like that but the maybe he does like me like that but doesn't know it or maybe he does like me like...

_Okay...sponge for a brain here! God I need sleep...yes...sleep! O'Malley can wait until morning..._

* * *

**Apologises for the delay, only...it's CHRISTMAS! Merry Christmas and a happy new year! R&R.**

**Bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello world!**

**Alex: Am I still sick?**

**Well hello Rosa how are you? Nice Alex, nice selfcenteredness! **

**Alex: Firstly selfcenteredness isn't a word and secondly am I still sick?**

**Not talking to you!**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!**

* * *

**Chapter Eight:**

**By Rosa241**

**Alex POV:**

_I'm being released! I'm being released! Finally!_

"Alex!" Meredith gives me with this look, like she's speaking to a three year old or something. "God I swear you have the attention span of a flea!"

"Hey I'm being let out, give a little bit of room for actually being happy here." She rolls her eyes and once again sets out with the warnings.

_Oh I've heard this stuff a million times already:_

_1. You're still on sick leave for another two weeks so you are not to step foot in this hospital until then_

_2. No drinking (yeah right!) and no staying out all night. I need rest and relaxation._

_3. Wait...what was number three again? Oh who cares I'm being released!_

"Promise?" Oops! "You promise me you're going to look after yourself?"

"Mer, I give you my word I will look after myself. The last place I want to end up in is back in a hospital bed again." She smiles at me but it's calculating she's trying to weigh up the chances of me actually keeping to my promise. Hey I may be an idiot at times but I'm a doctor, I know I need to watch myself. My immune system has taken a serious hit and it'll be a while before it's back to full strength so I need to take care of myself.

"Mer. I promise I'm going to be careful, alright?" I say with all joking aside. She finally seems to get it and FINALLY stops warning me.

"Are you sure you won't consider moving back in with us?" I'd moved out of the house after the Rebecca incident, I just couldn't look at the place the same. I felt weird being there so I had to leave.

"Mer, we've had this conversation." I sighed as she gave me that look, you know the one that says 'I totally don't agree with you but I'm not going say anything'.

"Okay so you're changed, forms signed, Bailey's given you the okay, you've been warned and George is going to take you home." Woah! Wait what?

"O'Malley? I thought you were taking me home." She gives me this smile, this small smile that hides nothing. I know Meredith and I know that smile. She's planning something and I have a funny feeling I know what.

"No, I have to work late." _Uh huh!_ _I'm sure..._ "Christina's busy, I have to work so George offered to take you home."

"Really?" She nods frantically, _never was a good liar_. "And this has nothing to do with a certain...uh secret I may have rather stupidly divulged to you whilst hammered out of my mind?"

"Nope, not a thing. But if it was then I would be saying that you should be paying attention to George and the things that he says." Before I can chew her out for interfering – I really hate it when people do that – the object of our conversation walks straight into the room.

"Ready to go?" He smiles at me and I can't help but lose myself in it for a moment. "Alex?"

"Yeah, fine. Let's get me out of here." With that I leave, _god I can't stand looking at the smile any longer, not with the way my stomachs flip flops every damn time I stare at it._

**George POV:**

_Okay, awkward! Well...more than awkward! I'm sitting in a car with the man I'm totally and completely in love with and I can't think of a single interesting thing to say. How lame am I?_

"So...er...you glad to be out of hospital?" _Oh great opener George!_

"God yes! Freaking hospital food sucks...they really should sort that out." _Well at least it got us talking._ "Wait how do you know where I live? I never told you."

"Oh. Meredith and I swung by when we heard you were getting released to make sure you had some food and stuff and I helped her." He looks at me and for a moment I think he's going yell but instead I actually get something I didn't expect.

"Oh well...thanks." We sit in silence for a few more moments before he speaks up again. "So, Bailey said you looked after me whilst I was out of it. Thank you."

"Er...you're welcome. You had us worried for a minute there...especially when you're temp spiked up...man that was scary." _And it really was._

"So what's with the tension?" Apparently he sees my confusion because he elaborates. "You and Stevens."

Ah, he's more observant than he looks although...I guess if I had to sit in a hospital bed all day I might just get into people watching too.

"Oh well, we had an argument and...she apologised but..." I trail off but he seems to get it.

"You don't think she meant it." I nod my head and for some reason I feel the need to continue.

"She just...since everything with me, her and Callie...things have changed." _By God is that true!_

"She's protective...of you, she's really protective of you." It's not something I've ever really thought about but yeah she is. I can't help noticing that Alex see's a lot, he seems to notice things that others don't. "She's like...like a mama bear protecting her cub."

We fall back into silence once again only this time it's a comfortable silence, a silence between friends. It's a few minutes before either of us speak again.

"I think I want to move out." I finally say, surprising us both. I've thought about it a lot lately yeah but...I've never said anything to anyone.

"I thought you liked living with the girls." He's giving me a confused look, like he can't quite believe what he's hearing.

"I did...do, it's just...I want to...Derek's always round the house. Christina...I don't actually know whether she lives with us or not...half the time she's there but then she goes back to her apartment, and Izzy...she's always there you know? Always by my side, needing something from me...I'm just-"

"You're sick of being used. You can deny it all you want O'Malley but they use you. Now don't get me wrong Mer, she's great but she uses you too. When they want you they're all right there but then when they don't need you...when they don't need you they just kind of...push you away. I garuntee right now that as soon as Stevens finds a man she'll won't be needing you nearly as much as she does now."

I honestly never thought that anyone but me actually noticed that kind of stuff. Of course I know that they use me. They've been doing it for the entire time I've known them, it just always seemed normal to me but lately it's really been bugging me. They're always going on and on about their own lives. Okay Meredith does take an interest in my life but she's always got some sort of drama going on, everything that happens to her just has to take centre stage. Christina...well...I really don't know what to think about Christina, sometimes I feel like she's a friend but then other times I really can't stand to be around her. Then there's Izzy...I love Izzy she's my best friend it's just...she's so needy. She constantly needs me. She's always got something she needs me help with, she's kind of self centred with that stuff. She's always talking about how losing Denny tore her apart and yeah I know it did and I'm surprised that she got back the way she did but...it's all she seems to talk about. It's always there. It's been a while now, she needs to move on. She doesn't seem to get that Alex lost Rebecca as well – she didn't die but he lost her – Burke left Christina and I got divorced...although that was kind of my fault. She seems to think she's the only one whose lost people...she isn't.

"I'm moving out!" I say again only this time there's far more conviction than before. I've always thought of reasons not to move out but I've can't think of one good enough this time.

"Good for you." I hear Alex mutter and I can't help the smile that leaps across my face.

_Yeah...good for me..._

* * *

**Oh I just had to have some Alex and George time. Aren't they so cute.**

**Alex: Cute...lady I am not cute!**

**No, you're adorable!**

**Alex: You are ****so**** bizarre!**

**George: Alex! How many times do we have to go through this? Do NOT insult the writer she can do horrible things to you!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello world, I do apologise for the time delay but between university and my personal life going down the drain I've been rather preoccupied of late. **

**Mark: Am I going to be in this chapter?**

**Well hello Mark, haven't heard from you in a while.**

**Mark: That's because I've mysteriously disappeared from the story**

**Ahh…**

**Mark: typical…writers, they always leave out the best characters**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**By Rosa241**

**Georges POV:**

_URGH! Why is apartment hunting so damn hard! Everyplace I can afford is a dump, and anywhere half decent would cost me an arm and a leg! Literally! _

I must have been at this for hours now and I seriously can't find anywhere. Moving out is a must do, ever since Alex pointed out all that stuff I can't help noticing it all. Every little thing that I barely noticed before now drives me completely insane! How did I spend so much time being completely blind!

"Hey George." Damn! As of yet I haven't told the girls my plan to move out, in all honesty I'm kind of afraid to. Quickly slamming the lap top shut – _well done George that wasn't suspicious at all! –_ I turn to her.

"Hey Mer…what's up?" She raises an eyebrow at me, _so she picked up on my panicking then._

"What were you doing on the laptop George?" _Okay George, don't look her in the eye, don't look her in the eye._

"Nothing…nothing…just…checking e-mails…nothing." _Stop rambling you idiot._

"So wait, was it checking e-mails or nothing?" _You see what happens when you ramble you idiot!_ "George, were you looking at something naughty?"

_Oh My God! She thinks I was looking at porn!_

"No! No! Absolutely not…I was just…" What do I say? What's worse? Telling her the truth or letting her think I was looking at porn.

"You were just…" She prompts me; clearly she's not going to just forget about it. "George!"

"I…I'm moving out." My voice comes out barely above a whisper, _she's going to freak, she's going to freak…_

"WHAT! What do you mean you're moving out!" And there she goes.

"I want to live on my own…" If looks could kill I think I'd be six feet under by now.

"Why? Did we do something?" _Oh great now she looks like a lost puppy…_

"No." _Now that's a lie_ "No, I just…I think it would be a good idea for me to not live with women. You guys are great but I just…kind of need to be a guy sometimes and that's not always easy when you live with three women."

She stares at the ground for a few moments and I can see her rolling my words around her brain. It's not like there's anything she could say that would change my mind but it would be nice if she was okay about it. After what feels like an eternity she finally looks up.

"Well then I guess I'll miss living with you then." She smiles at me and hugs me tightly, cutting of my air circulation for a good few minutes. "So have you found anywhere?"

"Not yet…still looking. Oh um…could you maybe not tell Izzy about this, I kind of want to tell her myself." She smiles again and nods at me. _Whew, well one down three to go._

"Oh hey, if you're not busy this afternoon could you take some stuff over to Alex for me, some groceries and stuff. I was going to do it but I'm needed at the hospital." _Ordinarily I would hate for her to do this, she's deliberately setting me up to see Alex but right now I'm kind of glad. I haven't seen him since I dropped him off home a week ago. I've been too nervous about seeing him, I can't just turn up and calling him is a huge no!_

"Sure."

**Alex's POV:**

_Why do people insist on ringing that damn bell? It's the single most annoying thing I've ever heard in my life, do they not see the DO NOT RING BELL message on the door!_

"What?" Opening the door I'm faced with someone I hadn't expected to see. "Sloan, what are you doing here?"

"Baileys orders." He says stepping inside. _Come in why don't you._ "Wants me to check you're not pushing yourself too hard too fast. Your not are you?"

"No…was there anything else?" _I know I'm being kind of pissy right now but I couldn't care less, I haven't heard anything from George in a week – not that I was expecting too. _

"Actually there is." He plonks himself down on the sofa, sensing that he's not going to leave anytime soon I reluctantly join him. "It's about George…well more it's about you and George."

_Oh for the love of…_

"See a little birdie told me that there might be something there between you but you're both being too damn stubborn to admit it." _I'm going to kill Meredith. _"Not that she had to tell me mind you, it's pretty damn obvious your nuts about each other."

"Why don't you mind your own damn business Sloan?" _Great work there Alex, nice comeback._

"Why don't you man up and talk to George about it? Seriously you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. Why don't you just get him into bed and be done with it?" He's sitting there, with this serious look on his face and God I want to punch him.

"You think that's what I want? You think I just want to get him into bed and that's that…God! That's not what I want, alright I want more than that I…oh I hate you!" _Why didn't I see that coming?_ _He just got me to confess!_

"See now was that so hard." My response is a punch on the arm. "Look just tell O'malley what you told me."

Anything I might have said back is cut off by another visitor, at least this one had the sense to knock on the damn door.

"Hi, just brought some stuff over for you." Standing right there in front of me is the object of our conversation. _God I hope he didn't hear any of that! _"Oh hi Doctor Sloan."

"He was just leaving." He seems to take the hint and leaves quickly, not before mouthing 'tell him' at me of course. Slamming the door in his face brings so much satisfaction you wouldn't believe. We stand for a few minutes in silence, packing away groceries, before words seem to come back to my brain.

"Any luck with finding a new place?" He merely sighs and turns to me.

"No. Anywhere I look at is either too expensive or just plain disgusting." _Okay it's official, seeing George O'Malley sad is something I don't ever want to see again. _"How did you find this place?"

"A guy I knew from college. He moved up here for family and I was moving for the hospital and we moved in together." He looks like he's thinking for a moment before he answers.

"I've never seen your roommate." _Well considering I haven't spoken to him for a year…_

"We fell out…he moved out about a year ago." And stuck me with paying for the damn place! "So now I get to pay for his rent too."

"Ouch." _My thoughts exactly!_

"I've tried looking for roommates but they're all just too weird! I mean there was this one guy who wanted his mother to live with us , oh and this other guy who wanted me to help him install a stripper pole in the living room." _Oh god even thinking about that guy gives me the creeps._

"So let me get this straight, I'm looking for an apartment and you need one?" _Wait what?_

"Oh…yeah I…never thought about that…" _Well I did but I'm hardly going to tell him that. _"So you…want to live here?"

_No! Bad Alex! Take that back right now!_

"Seriously?" Oh god, now he's smiling and happy.

"Uh…sure…" _Why? Why? Why? Why? Alex what the hell have you done?_

* * *

**Alex: Wait so now we live together?**

**Yes…I got tired of you living alone so decided to do something about it**

**Alex: But I like living alone!**

**But you like George more!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi! I won't fuss you about. Here's the next chapter. Forgive me?**

**Disclaimer: Despite my best attempts I own nothing.**

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Chapter Ten

By Rosa241

**Mark's POV:**

"I'm sorry you did what exactly?" Alex's head hits the table once again, I actually can't believe him. "You asked him to move in with you?"

"I wasn't going to...I mean its not like I planned it or anything! I just...he came over, we talked and...and...oh, I am screwed!" He moans, his head dropping back onto the table.

"Alright, first of all stop doing that. You give yourself concussion and Bailey will actually kill me. Dealing with an angry Bailey is not in my job description. Secondly, if you don't want to live with George then don't. Just tell him that you don't think it'd be a good idea. You know if you live with him it's going to make being a couple all that harder." He glares at me, but refrains from dropping his head back onto the table top.

"I can't. I can't do that, it's his fault I'm a total idiot. Besides, getting away from the girls is going to be good for him. You say that him living here will be hard for us but it'll be even harder if he stays with the girls." Clearly my confusion speaks for itself since he elaborates. "The girls treat him like some sort of puppy. He's constantly being pushed from pillar to post...it's not right. He needs to be a guy and live by himself, he needs to be alone and take care of himself. Not be babied and treated like a kid. There's no way I could ever be with him whilst he's like that."

Not quite what I was expecting. I shouldn't be so surprised, he's crazy about O'Malley. Now that I think about it he's right. I've never noticed it before but he's right. Meredith, Izzy, Christina...they all do it, they all belittle him and make him seem and feel like a child. Alex is right, he needs a chance to be a man, to be on his own, he'll never get that chance living with the girls.

"Alright, maybe it's not that bad an idea."

**Georges' POV:**

"You're moving out?" Izzy's face must have dropped about ten times in the last ten seconds. "You're moving out?"

"Yes. I need to be a guy and be me and-"

"You're actually moving out?" Izzy interrupts me, still reeling from the shock.

"Yes!" My voice is a lot stronger than I would have thought it would be. "I need to not live with girls for a while, I need to be with guys once in a while and I need to _be_ a guy. I can't do that living here. Ever since I moved back here I haven't felt like myself. I feel like...I feel like I'm denying myself the chance to really be happy."

"You're not happy?" She queries, I can tell she's confused. "Living with me doesn't make you happy?"

And there it is. Alex said she would do it, he said that she'd make this all about herself and that's exactly what she's trying to do. How did I never notice these things before?

"Izzy. This isn't about you, it's about me. I just need to make a fresh start."

"Well...I guess I could help you look for an apartment." _Oh man._

"Um...well actually Izzy, I've already found one." Her face drops once again.

"Where?" She whispers.

"Alex has a spare room. He offered so...I said yes. I can move in whenever I want to." She goes from upset to angry so quickly it's not even funny.

"Alex? You're moving in with Alex?" _Oh god here we go._

**Derek's POV:**

"Well, that was successful." Meredith breathes as we make our way back into the house. She's right. For the first time in I don't even know when we actually managed to go on a date. It was only dinner but it was what both of us needed. It was exactly what we needed, just some time with each other, reminding ourselves of why we love each other so much.

"It most certainly was." I say as I capture her lips. Her arms wrap around my neck as my own slide round her waist. "Since it looks like we're alone-" I barely get the sentence out before I hear it.

"GEORGE! Don't walk away from me!" Izzys screech reaches my ears just seconds before someone's footsteps – presumably George's – come thudding down the stairs. He's got a face like thunder and looks like a man on a mission.

"You are so out of line it's not even remotely funny. You've got no right to say that, no right at all...you are so completely and totally out of line." He slams the door behind him as he goes and quite predictably Izzy goes right after him.

"George! George!" She continues shouting for a few moments before coming back inside. Naturally she feels the need to slam the door as loud as is possible – how that door is still standing I don't know! She growls to herself as she storms back up the stairs, the echoing slam of her own door signals an end to whatever the hell just happened.

"What was the about?" I wonder aloud, not really expecting an answer.

"Oh I think I know..." Meredith trails off, her eyes drifting from the front door to the stairs, clearly contemplating which one to go after, after some hesitation she picks Izzy and heads up the stairs.

"Would you mind letting me know?" I yell after her. _Sometimes I really hate her friends..._

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**Oooh, so Izzy knows! Just what did she say to George to wind him up so much? And where will George go? (like we don't all know!)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Answers, answers and more answers coming up! Just what will happen with George and Izzy and when will Alex finally pluck up the courage to tell George how he feels? Keep reading and maybe you'll find out.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I own nothing!**

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Chapter Eleven:

By Rosa241

**George's POV:**

_Stupid Izzy! How dare she say that!? How dare she! Where the hell does she get off talking about people that way!? She's supposed to be the nice, good one but no! God when she needs me I'm there for her, even if she's doing something I don't agree with I'm still there for her. The LVAD thing, I was willing to take them blame, so was Alex yet she conveniently seems to have forgotten that! _

Realising where I am I can't help but breathe a sigh of relief. When I left I didn't really know where I was going but somehow I've ended up here. Knocking on the door I have to cross my fingers and hope that he answers.

"Dude what the hell? Do you know what time it-oh, George!" Alex opens the door, rubbing his eyes slightly and suppressing a yawn. "What's going on?"

"Um...can...can I stay here for the night? I had a fight with Izzy and I just...just can't stand the thought of going back there tonight." Part of me almost wants him to say no, me staying here will only make Izzy even madder but then why should I care about her?

"Oh, sure. Come in, after all you are going to be living here eventually." The silence is awkward for a moment as we both stand there, not quite sure where we go from here. "What were you guys fighting about anyway?"

"Told her that I was moving out. Didn't really go so well." _Understatement of the century!_

"Didn't honestly think that it would. What'd she say? You know to upset you." _I was sort of hoping he wouldn't ask that._ Sighing I know I have to tell him.

"I told her I was moving out and that I was moving in with you and, well..."

_Flashback:_

"_Alex? You're moving in with Alex?" Her eyes narrow sharply, clearly she's not happy about this._

"_Yes. Alex's got a spare room, he offered so I accepted." I really hate the way she looks whenever someone dares to mention his name. She treats him like he's the devil._

"_Alex? The jerk who cheated on me, who made a fool out of me and made me feel like I was dirt! That Alex!?" When did this become about her? "You're are supposed to be my best friend and you do this!" _

"_Look, Alex has changed; he's not the same person who he was before. He's different now, if you'd only open your eyes then you'd see that." She glares at me, oh I know that glare. She's gearing up for something I can tell. _

"_Alex is a horrible person...he's a horrible person. He treated me like dirt and like I was nothing! You do know that he probably only wants to scrounge off of you right? Probably just wants to use and abuse you like he did me. You know he told me that he's actually bisexual, that he likes guys sometimes. Thinking about it he probably wants to get into your pants, a live in booty call. That's the kind of thing that people like him want."_

"_People like him? Just what exactly are you suggesting?" Just how I haven't blown my top is a mystery to me. "What do you mean?"_

"_What I mean is that Alex is a dirty whore!" Her words echo round the room. _

"_You are such a bitch." I whisper before storming out of the room._

"_George! Don't you walk away from me!" She screams after me._

_End Flashback:_

"And then I left and came here." _He gives me a strange look before shrugging. _

"Well you're welcome to stay here, you can move in whenever you want." _Seriously that's it!_

"You don't mind what she said. Her words didn't hurt you at all?" If Izzy had said something like that about me I don't think I'd ever be able to handle it. Once again he shrugs, like its nothing.

"Hey if I bothered myself over every bad thing that people said about me then I don't think I'd get out of bed in the morning. Sticks and stones O'Malley." As he wanders back towards his room I can't help but admire him. "Spare room is just down the hall."

_How can he just brush what she said off? _

**Meredith POV:**

"You said what?" My voice just about shakes the room as I yell. "What the hell is the matter with you!?"

"Why is everyone defending Alex? He CHEATED ON ME! He slept with another woman." She yells back at me, determind to fight her corner.

"Look, Izzy what Alex did was wrong, very wrong, but a lot has happened since then. You can't hold it over his head forever." She glares at me, what the heck did I say that was so wrong?

"He cheated on me Meredith, he broke my heart. And George thinks that its okay for him to be best buddies with the guy all of a sudden. Well you know what it's not okay! I don't want him and Alex being friends. I'm supposed to be George's best friend, he's supposed to back me up but instead he's doing this to me!" _ Wow, self involved much?_

"This is not about you Izzy, George is moving out because he wants to. Not because of anything to do with Alex. George has had to put up with a lot since moving in here and honestly, I think him moving out will be good. He can't really be himself here. He can't really bring people back because of the situation with you, he can't meet anyone...maybe now he can do that. Maybe now he can start to come out of his shell a little." I was hoping that my words would get through to her but clearly not.

"But don't you see? George is innocent and good, Alex is...Alex is like a tumour. He just destroys everything good and I'm not going to let him destroy George." Where the hell does she get off talking like this?

"Not everything in life is about you Izzy. Whatever you think of Alex doesn't matter, the fact of the matter is that despite what you think you have to support George. If you keep this up then you're going to lose George forever." With that I walk away, I have to. If I don't then I might just hit her. Wandering back into my room I sigh heavily as Derek looks up at me.

"Went well then?" I merely roll my eyes and get into bed. "Izzy really is being so unreasonable."

"How do you think she's going to react when Alex and George finally give up the pretending and get together?" His words send a shiver down my spine. I honestly have no idea but I really don't think it's going to go well.

* * *

**Tada! Okay now I know that's not very long but the next chapter will be.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello world. Not much to say other than thank you to everyone who's read, reviewed and/or favourited this story so far. Thanks very much!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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**Chapter Twelve:**

**By Rosa241**

**George's POV:**

It's been three weeks since I moved out of the house and into the apartment with Alex. It's strange to think that these have been the best three weeks I've had in a long time. Despite what people think Alex is actually pretty great company, once you get passed the sarcasm. It's probably got something to do with him being a guy – ignoring the enormous crush that has got absolutely nothing to do with this! I've spent so much of my time living with women and before that I lived at home with my parents and brothers. Don't get me wrong I love them and everything but they're just kind of different than I am. They're more...manly than me. They've never really understood me but Alex seems to get it.

"So, living with evil spawn, what's that like?" I know that by now evil spawn is simply Christina's nickname for him but even still it gets me going. If it weren't for how she reacted when Alex had scarlet fever I would be sure that she genuinely meant it when she said that she didn't care. Of course that's a lie, she does care, she just doesn't want us to know how much.

"Actually it's kind of fun." She gives me a look, one that clearly says 'how high are you right now?' "I'm being serious here. He's kind of fun to be around when you actually get to know him better."

"God I couldn't imagine living with all of that angry and crazy evil spawn stuff going on inside of his head. Now that's got to be a scary place." She snorted to herself before opening her locker and delving inside.

"He's not that bad." I repeat before opening my own locker. "Seriously I wouldn't be still living there if I wasn't enjoying it." Okay now that's a lie, I would totally still be living there. The bonus of getting to see Alex shirtless most days was enough to make me keep living there even if the place was a hole in the ground. Shirtless Alex is a god! Okay maybe there's more to it than just the fact that Alex is pretty hot – and by that I mean that he's a total hunk – actually there's a lot more to it.

"I think it's going to be good for you, living with Alex." Meredith voice's her opinion as she sits next to me. "He's a guy for starters, not a girl, which means that you get to be amazingly guyish."

"Guyish? That's not a word." She gives me a look before rolling her eyes. "But I get what you mean though. I've spent a long time being an honorary girl for you guys, it's nice to be a guy for once."

It's true. The girls expected me to be one of them, little realising that I'm actually a guy. Well scratch that they do know I'm a guy of course they do, but they don't see me as one. They see me as one of them. I can't really be myself around them, not really.

"Yeah Guyish. I like that word." I can hear Meredith laughing as I leave the locker room. I think this is going to be a good day.

**Alex's POV:**

So far so good. I honestly can't believe that I'm going to say this but I love pit duty! Okay maybe I don't love it but I've got to say that it beats the hell out of sitting at home all day doing nothing. Yep you guessed right, Bailey cleared me for duty, and by God I've never been happier to be in this hospital.

"So Doctor Karev. I hear you and Doctor O'Malley are living together?" Nurse Kelly says as I finish writing out the chart in my hand.

"You heard right." I hate talking to Kelly, she hates me. We dated for like five minutes three years ago and all of a sudden I'm the big bad wolf.

"So how'd you wangle that one?" _Say what?_

"Excuse me, what?" She laughs at me, but it's one of those irritating condescending laughs.

"Oh don't play dumb. You've got yourself a live in friend with benefits." The ability to breathe right now goes completely out of the window.

"I'm sorry what?" She laughs at me again before wandering off to the nearest patient. "Hold up." She sneers at me slightly as I pull her back.

"Oh what's the matter, you don't like people knowing you're dirty secret? I mean it's totally like you, the whole slut thing, you and Grey totally have that in common." As she goes to walk away again my anger gets the better of me.

"Okay first of all leave Meredith out of this. She's in a loving relationship and has got nothing to do with me and George. And second of all, George is a friend. He needed somewhere to stay and I happen to have a spare room, that's it. And not that it's any of your business but there's nothing going on between us."

"Not what I heard." She says in one of those annoying sing song voices.

"From who?" I'm practically yelling now but I couldn't care less.

"Doctor Stevens, she was practically spitting feathers this morning in the locker room. You can deny it all you want but we all know what you're really like." With that she walks away again, only this time I let her. I've got bigger fish to fry.

It doesn't take me long to find Izzy, thank God. Seriously I'm so angry right now I think that I might actually explode. She doesn't see me coming, something I'm kind of grateful for.

"Izzy!" She spins around as I yell, her eyes narrowing as she does. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"I'm busy Alex. Leave me alone." She makes to walk away but I pull her back. She's not getting away with this.

"You're not going anywhere. What the hell have you been spreading around about me and George? I thought George was supposed to be your friend!" I'm quite sure my yelling has attracted a crowd but I don't care.

"He is. That's exactly why I want the world to know what you're doing to him. George doesn't deserve to be treated that way." She tries to go but I keep my grip firm.

"There is nothing going on between me and George!" She snorts before responding.

"Oh please! I know exactly why you wanted him to live with you. Friends with benefits. You're going to charm your way into his bed and then toss him aside as soon as you're done with him. I know how you work." Oh. My. God. I might actually kill her right now!

"You don't know anything!" I shout. "Unless you actually see it with your own eyes, or hear it first hand from your own ears don't invent it with your small mind and share it with your big ass mouth."

With that I storm away, staying any longer would result in my killing her.

_God I hate that woman._

**Bailey's POV:**

You know sometimes I hate them. Sometimes I actually hate them. I mean seriously this is Karev's first day back at work and the man's already caused a scene, not that I can blame him given what Stevens has been saying, but even still.

"Stevens! I need a word." Judging from the sheepish look she gives me she knows exactly what's going on. "I don't care what your personal feelings towards Doctor Karev are but you do not going bringing your personal life into this hospital."

"I know but Alex..." _Oh don't even try it girl!_

"No, no, no. You are the one that's been spreading rumours about two of the doctors in this hospital. And before you even start I've already had words with Karev so no, he's not getting special treatment. From now on you keep your life outside of this hospital, am I clear?" I give her that look, you know that one that says don't-you-dare-mess-with-me.

"But Doctor Bailey-" No!

"Am I clear?" This time she says nothing for a moment before nodding her head.

"Yes."

"And I don't want to have to have this conversation again. Get back to work." With that she walks back to her patient.

_I hate them, I really do._

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**There we go. Poor Alex. Mean old Izzy. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow! Would you believe it? I'm actually still alive. I shall offer no excuses for my absence for and all I shall say is enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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**Chapter Thirteen:**

**By Rosa241**

**Alex's POV:**

_I officially HATE pit duty. I get it, I mean I've been off for a while now but jesus! I hate pit duty!_

"Okay so next time this happens just take a couple of aspirin and stop drinking. You have a hangover dude." The guy in front of me shakes his head – before deciding it was a bad idea – and stalks off. Kids! Why are kids so stupid? I mean seriously he has a hangover and he thinks he's dying? What's wrong with people today?

Yesterday's argument with Izzy is still fresh in my mind. I get why she hates me, I cheated on her and let's face it pretty much I treated her like crap. But George...George is supposed to be her best friend yet she's treating him like this? What the hell is wrong with her?

"Dr Karev? There's a woman in that cubicle who thinks that she might have a brain tumour." As I take the chart off of the nurse in front of me and head towards my patient I force Izzy out of my brain.

"Mrs Steiner, we've been through this yesterday. You've had the CAT scan and nothing showed up, you have a migraine." _People!_

**Izzy's POV:**

_How can Dr Bailey do this to me? I was just trying to help George and she sends me to the pit?_ _We're doctors, aren't we supposed to help people in need? This is all Alex's fault._

_Flashback:_

"_Izzy will you please shut up, you're driving me insane. There is nothing going on between me and Alex, we're roommates and friends but that's it." He just doesn't see it; he doesn't see what that man's doing to him. _

"_George, you have to understand that I didn't see it happening either. He just worms his way into your life. He's like a damn leech, sucking you dry and then just abandoning you." How can he not see this?_

"_Izzy! Enough!" He turns away from me as he examines a chart. "I'm sorry." Finally he's starting to see sense. "I'm sorry that you feel this way, I'm sorry that you can't see Alex for who he really is and I'm sorry that you feel the need to hate him. But Izzy, I'm not you. I don't see Alex the same way." With that he walks away, ignoring me as I call for him._

"_Dr Stevens!" Oh crap. "I asked you, no, no I told you half an hour ago to order a CAT scan for Mr Rodgers and instead of doing it you thought it'd be okay to stand here and do exactly what I told you not to do yesterday."_

"_Dr Bailey, I just...I need George to see the truth. I need to protect him, he doesn't see Alex for who he really is and I need to keep him safe." She sighs before she speaks. _

"_Stevens. Come here." She pulls me into an empty room before we speak again. "Look, whatever problems you have with Karev are none of my business. It's also none of your business if George and Alex are together."_

"_Wait –" I try to explain but she cuts me off. _

"_No! George is a grown man, if he wants to sleep with someone then let him. And he can take care of himself, he's not child. He doesn't need you protecting him every second of the day." She doesn't get it. "And as for Karev. He's not the person you think he is." _

_I can't help but scoff, how can he have her fooled? _

"_Yesterday I told you not to go bringing your personal issues into this hospital and yet again here we are. You are a damn doctor here and you are ignoring your patients in order to deal with your personal life. Well I have had enough. You are on pit duty for the next week. Maybe that'll help you to focus on being a doctor."_

_End Flashback:_

"Okay so give her ten milligrams of..." My thoughts are interrupted by the source of all my problems. Alex.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me. " I mutter before wandering towards the other end of the pit.

Several patients later and I officially hate Alex even more. This whole thing is his fault, how can no one else see what he's doing to George? There has to be something I can do.

"Excuse me? I'm no doctor but I don't think it should take that long to read a chart." The woman in front of me comments as she draws me out of my mind.

"Sorry just wanted to be thorough." She rolls her eyes at me before placing her arm around her young son. "Okay I think the best thing to do is..."

"Dr Karev!" The boy shoots off of the bed before I can finish my sentence. As I turn around I spy my patient with his arms wrapped around Alex. "Hi."

"Hey kiddo." He lifts the kid – Simon? – up before wandering back towards us. "I thought I said I didn't want to see you in this hospital again?"

"I have an infe-infectious." He – Scott? – stumbles over his words as he speaks.

"He has a chest infection." Surgery?

"Brandon here had an emergency appendectomy about three months ago, I was in the operating theatre." Alex explains as he places Brandon back on the bed. "Oh one thing..."

I tune him out as he speaks, why is he talking to me? Seriously Alex just go away and let me take care of my patient. There has to be a reason why no one else can see what he really is. Alex continues to talk as I prep the penicillin. Go away Alex.

"Okay. That should take care of this infection, thankfully it looks like we've gotten to it pretty early but if it continues to worsen then you should come back and we'll take another look." Brandons mother smiles at me before turning her attention to her son.

"So does this mean I can go home now?" I give him a nod. "Yay. Mr Karev, can you...you..."

"Brandon?" Alex moves forward slightly, _get away from my patient Alex! _"Izzy what did you give him?"

"Alex it's my patient, go away." He growls at me before laying Brandon down on the bed and grabbing hold of a nearby oxygen mask.

"It's okay Brandon. What did you give him!?" He snaps at me, oh god!

"Penicillin." I can barely breathe as I realise what is going on.

"Damn it Izzy he's allergic to penicillin. I need a shot of epinephrine now!" My mind goes blank as a nurse rushes forward. How could this happen?

**Alex's POV:**

"Brandon's going to be fine." Celia sighs in relief, the tears in her eyes still continuing to spill over. It took two shots of epinephrine and some antihistamines before the reaction stopped.

"I don't understand how this could happen. Why did that Doctor give him penicillin?" Her eyes leave her son for the first time.

"I don't know but rest assured we're going to find out." As I wander over to where Izzy is now standing a familiar figure bursts through the doors. Damn.

"What the hell happened?" Bailey comes to a halt in front of us, the reason behind her nickname has never been more clear.

"Allergic reaction to penicillin. I must have missed it in his notes." Izzy sets about explaining. Wait, missed it?

"I'm sorry missed it? Izzy I told you about it. When Brandon came over to me I told you about his allergy." She gives me a confused look.

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did. Don't you dare try to weasel your way out of this."

"ENOUGH!" Bailey snaps at us. "I want to speak to both of you now!"

She leaves us with no choice but to follow her. What the hell is going on?

"Karev you better start explaining." She turns to me, she's already spoken to Izzy who still maintains that I said nothing about the allergy.

"Alright look..."

_Flashback:_

"_Dr Karev!" I hear a familiar voice shout my name before something collides with me. Oof. Looking down to the source of the noise a familiar face gazes up at me. "Hi."_

"_Hey kiddo. I thought I said I didn't want to see you in this hospital again." He smiles at me as I lift him up. Now I'm not a kid person but this kid has definitely wormed his way into my heart. _

"_I have an infec-infectious." He tries to explain but trips over his words. _

"_He has a chest infection." Celia explains as I wander over towards her. Stevens rolls her eyes as she see's me. Well that's just great!_

"_Brandon here had an emergency appendectomy about three months ago, I was in the operating theatre." She rolls her eyes again as I speak. "Oh one thing you should know. His penicillin allergy, it's pretty damn severe. He reacts within seconds of being given it, we figured it out after his appendectomy." _

_End Flashback:_

"And thats what happened." Bailey gives me a quizzical look as she tries to judge whether or not I'm telling the truth. "Look go and talk to Celia, she was there, she heard me tell Izzy about the allergy."

She says nothing as she brings Izzy back into the room and sits both of us down. Her gaze flickers between the two of us for a moment before she speaks.

"I'm going to go talk to the mother about this and try to deal with this mess. If I find out that either one of you is lying to me there will be hell to pay. It's bad enough that you missed this allergy in the first place Stevens but if what Karev is saying is true then we have a serious problem." Izzy once again sets about telling Bailey about how I'm a complete liar and how I'm trying to throw her under the bus. Geez what the hell is with her?

"How could you do this to me!?" Izzy snaps as soon as Bailey leaves the room. "

**Mark's POV:**

"I'm telling you it was probably evil spawns fault, things that go wrong usually are." Christina comments as we discuss the news that has been spreading around the hospital.

"We shouldn't make any judgements until we know the truth. We don't know what happened with that patient." Meredith tries to be the voice of reason between myself and Christina but it's no good.

"Stevens was the doctor in that case, she should have read the kids notes properly and should have known that he was allergic to it." Christina rolls her eyes as our argument continues to go round and round.

"Shut up, just shut up. Stop speculating and get back to work." O'Malley yells as he storms out of the locker room. We're all silent for a few minutes before someone speaks.

"Man that boy is so in love." Christina murmurs and I can't help but agree.

**Baileys POV:**

_Why is it always mine? Why? Why can't it be someone else's for once? _

"I cannot believe this. It's one thing to steal George away from me and ruin his life but trying to get me fired? What is wrong with you?" Stevens all but screams at Karev, I should put a stop to this but...

"I'm not trying to get you fired! I told you about the allergy; it's not my fault that you weren't paying attention." They continue to go back and forth for a while longer before I finally decide to put a stop to it.

"Alright." They both go silent as I enter the room. "I've spoken to the mother and she confirms that Dr Karev told you about the penicillin allergy. How the hell could you be so damn idiotic!? You almost killed that boy!"

"No but I didn't-" She tries to protest but I'm having none of it.

"Karev leave us please." As Alex walks out of the door I let loose. How could this happen?

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**And there it is. Sorry it's taken so long but I've got it out finally. Before I forget I'm changing my internet supplier so I might be unavailable for a few days. Bye!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello I'm back again, would have been here sooner but****unfortunately****I'm an idiot. I left my memory stick with everything on it in my pocket and it went through the washing machine. Surprisingly it didn't work afterwards, oops!**** I then, being the genius that I am, broke my laptop after I had painstakingly rewritten everything. Honestly it could only happen to me!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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**Chapter Fourteen:**

**By Rosa241**

**Alex POV:**

I can't help sighing as I finally get home, damn what a day! I tell you what if there was a competition for the worst day in history then there was a good chance I would win. Hell!

"Bad day?" A voice questioned from behind me. Jumping slightly it takes a moment before I realise that it's just George. After living alone for so long it's strange to have someone else in the flat but I'll admit it's going to be much easier on my bank account.

"The worst. You hear what happened with the patient?" I know by now that basically the entire hospital has heard about what happened with Brandon and judging from what the whispers I've heard most people think that somehow it's my fault.

"Yep. What happened?" George takes a seat next to me on the couch, looking at me curiously.

"You mean you haven't figured it out through the hospital gossip chain? Apparently I'm an evil son of a bitch that's hung Izzy out to dry." Okay so maybe I'm a little angry but hell can you blame me? "I know she hates me but god I can't believe she would go this far."

"What happened?" He pushes again for an explanation and I can feel my anger bubbling to the surface.

"Izzy gave a patient a shot of penicillin despite my warning her that he was allergic to the stuff. Then when Bailey confronted us about the kid having a reaction and almost dying she tried to say that I hadn't told her anything." George is still giving me a curious look. "What you don't believe me?"

"No it's not that it's just...tell me everything." I set about telling him everything that happened today and surprisingly it feels good to get this all off my chest.

"I can't believe she would be so stupid!" My words are still full of anger and I can't help but direct that towards Izzy.

"How could she miss that?" Good old George. Most of the nurses are convinced that I've made the mistake and that I've left Izzy to take the blame. I don't care what people think of me but I have to work with these people every day, how can I work with them if they think I'm going to do something like this? "Seriously didn't she read the notes? And you told her about it so how could she miss it?"

"I don't know George, I don't know." Before I can say anymore a knock at the door interrupts my thoughts. "Woohoo, visitors!" Yes I'm being sarcastic.

George heads over and answers the door, not that he needs to since I already know whose there. There are only three people who know where my flat is, George, Meredith and Sloan. Since George now lives here it's between Sloan and Meredith, my money's on Sloan.

"So, I hear you've been getting into trouble Karev." I can hear the teasing in his voice and I don't need to turn round to see the disapproving look on George's face.

"What do you want Sloan?" George quickly takes the position next to me on the couch whilst Sloan hops onto the counter.

"I came here to comfort you in your hour of need and this is the response I get. How charming!" I'm not sure when Sloan and I became friends but somewhere along the line we did. I suppose I should be grateful that there will be at least two people on my side come tomorrow morning.

"Any idea what happened to Izzy?" I question after several minutes of awkward silence, something tells me that George and Sloan aren't exactly the best of friends.

"No, but if the way Bailey was storming round the hospital when I left is anything to go by I would say that it didn't go well." There's a hint of humour in his voice but his words send a thought into my brain.

"Any idea whether the mother made a complaint?" Neither answers my question but we all know the seriousness of it. If the mother made a complaint it could mean serious consequences for Izzy.

"For Izzy's sake we better hope not." Despite my anger at the woman I can't help but echo George's sentiments.

**Izzy's****POV:**

I can feel the anger boiling inside me, my whole body is shaking and I can feel tears pricking my eyes. Why the hell did this have to happen? How could Alex do this to me?

"Izzy?" Meredith's soft voice interrupts my internal tirade. "You okay?"

"What do you think Meredith!?" I snap at her, does she honestly think that I'm 'okay'?

"Look Izzy..." She tries to play peace maker, that's what Meredith does, but I'm not having any of it.

"No Meredith. Don't you dare go defending Alex not after what he's done to me."

"Alex? How is this Alex's fault?" Seriously Meredith?

"Oh my god! Of course this is his fault! He didn't tell me about the allergy he's lying!" She seems shocked at the vemon that comes from my mouth. "I don't know how he convinced the mother to lie for him, probably sleeping with him...wouldn't be surprised if he was..." Meredith heaves a heavy sigh before she speaks again.

"Look Izzy I don't understand what happened today and at the end of the day it's none of my business, it's between you, Alex and the patient. But what I do know is that a child could have died today because you gave him an injection that he was allergic to. That's not Alex's fault, that's down to you. Whether Alex told you or not about the allergy you should have seen it on the chart."

What. The. Hell.

"Are you being serious here? Of all the people to be on Alex's side are you seriously going to abandon me? I can't believe you. You're supposed to be my friend, how can you do this to me?" Could this day possibly get any worse?

"Abandon you? Izzy for crying out loud I'm trying to help you. If you keep going like this then you're going to lose your job, and that will be your fault not Alex's or Bailey's or George's fault, that's all down to you." No way in hell am I standing for this.

"Help me? If you were trying to help me then you would be on my side. You would see the person that Alex is and you'd be trying to stop George from making a huge mistake." Am I really the only one who can see what is going on here?

"Mistake? Moving out to find himself is a mistake? Trying to be more independent is a mistake?" The look in her eyes right now is something I'm not used to seeing, I can't quite place it but the words disappointed come to mind.

"Getting involved with Alex is a mistake! He cheated on me Meredith!"

"Who cares!" This time she yells at me, her voice rising unnaturally. "I'm sorry that Alex cheated on you but let's face the facts, that was a long time ago. I know it probably still hurts but Alex can't change that now, he's apologised and you're holding the past over him unfairly. He's changed Izzy; everything that happened with Ava has changed him."

"You see Ava that's exactly what I'm talking about. She tried to commit suicide because of him." I don't get any further before a stinging slap from Meredith shocks me into silence.

"Don't you dare. Ava had problems, real problems that were not Alex's fault. Don't you dare try and blame him for that." Her voice is strained, like she's trying to control herself but struggling. She hesitates before giving up and walking out of the room.

How can this be happening? How can no one see what's going on?

Rubbing the stinging sensation on my cheek I sit down on the bed. I can't let Alex get away with this. I won't. I have to do something about him and I will. But what?

**Bailey's POV:**

Heaving a heavy sigh as I take a seat I can't help but feel the exhaustion draining through my body. Thankfully Celia Burton had decided not to make an official complaint but she made it damn clear that she was very unhappy. Not that I'm surprised. Hell if it had been my child I would have probably beaten the hell out of Stevens, I know the girl has some issues at the moment but how in the hell can she miss something like this?

I'll never understand just why people can't leave there personal lives at the hospital door. I'm not going to lie I've had my issues over the years, sometimes leaving your own issues at the door is almost impossible but you've got to find a way to do it. Whether you drink yourself into oblivion on your night off or whether like most doctors you choose to have a counsellor. It doesn't matter how you do it but you have to find a way because if you don't you won't last long in the job.

The conversation with Steven's earlier is still running through my mind.

_**Flashback:**_

As Alex walks out the door I finally let loose.

"Not only did you miss the allergy on the chart which is bad enough as a doctor who is trained to read those damn things but you ignored the advice of a fellow doctor." I'm trying hard to contain myself right now but hell it's not easy. "You were told about the allergy, it was on the chart yet you still somehow managed to almost kill the boy."

"Alex didn't tell me about-" Don't you even try it.

"Don't Stevens, just don't. I've got a report from the mother stating that she heard Karev tell you about the allergy so don't sit there and tell me that he didn't." She rolls her eyes at me before she speaks again.

"The boy didn't die, he's still alive."

"Thanks to Karev. He's the one who spotted the reaction, he's the one who acted first and saved the boys life. From the reports I've had you froze. Don't try and pin this on Karev, don't." She stares at me like I've just told her she was from another planet.

"He's trying to pin this on me!" She shouts, standing from her chair as she does.

"This is your fault!" My voice rises but I force myself to stay as calm as I can. "I've spoken with the chief and we both agree that a weeks suspension is in order."

"What? No-"

"Don't argue, given the way you've been acting these last couple of weeks you should thank your lucky stars that nothing more has happened. I don't need to tell you what would have happened if the mother had chosen to make a complaint but thankfully she's decided against it." I take a breath before continuing. "Now, go home. I don't want to see you in this hospital until the 20th. When you return you will report directly to me. Go."

I can see the tears in her eyes as she walks out of the door my heart goes out to her.

_**End Flashback:**_

As angry as I am with Stevens right now I can tell there is something serious going on with her. I think I can tell what the problem is but Stevens is unwilling to accept the fact that she is in love with him. She doesn't want to accept it and thinks that reacting this way will be much easier than having to face the problem.

Eventually that girl is going to have to face up to what's going on and hopefully this suspension will get that message through but if not...then I really do fear for her future here.

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**Oh poor ****Izzy ****certainly has some problems! Just who is she in love with Alex or George? And just what does she plan to do about Alex? Will she ever realise the truth?****Hmm...stay ****tuned and you shall find out. And providing I don't put this memory stick through the wash then it shouldn't be too long until the next chapter is up.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, if I did then George would never have died**

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**Chapter 15**

**By Rosa241**

**Alex's POV:**

"So you ready for this?" George queries as we pull into the hospital car park. The last week had, without trying to sound too girly here, been heaven! Not having to deal with Izzy everyday was the best feeling in the world. Contrary to my earlier beliefs no one had commented on the situation with poor Brandon, although I strongly suspect Bailey may have had something to do with that. Don't get me wrong I was fully aware of the common belief in the hospital that I was this evil, horrible doctor who had deliberately left Izzy high and dry. I know what most people think of me but I don't care. It doesn't bother me that they think that, what bothers me is that people can't keep their opinions to themselves and feel the need to tell me just what they think of me. But this last week I had, to my intense surprise and relief, been left alone.

"Alex?" George's voice brings me out of my mind and back to the present. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Today was Izzy's first day back since our blow up. Since her suspension I hadn't heard anything from her, she'd left me alone and hadn't spoken to George either. In truth I didn't care at all, in fact I preferred it this way. Meredith had informed us that Izzy had gone to visit family somewhere and no one had heard from her since.

"No time like the present." I heard George mutter as we walked through the entrance.

The locker room was full of tension as we all got dressed. Meredith's attempts to make small talk were shot down by myself and Izzy's refusal to say anything. It surprised me that she was staying silent after all she'd had to say lately. Perhaps being suspended had given her time to realise how out of order she was being.

"Well isn't she a barrel of laughs." Meredith whispered as Izzy fled the locker room.

"I know and seriously slamming things around, what is she in kindergarten?" I couldn't help laughing as Christina rolled her eyes and left the room. Meredith sighed heavily and followed her. George got up to leave but turned back as he reached the door.

"If Izzy starts up just take a breath and walk away." I couldn't help rolling my eyes at his words. Of course he was right, it was the best thing to do after all but walking away is easier said than done.

**Mark's POV:**

"So Friday at eight?" The nurse giggled slightly as she passed me her phone number. So easy.

"Haven't you gone through all the nurses already?"

"Now Karev I'm insulted by that, do you really think I'm that much of a man whore?" He merely snorted at that and handed me the chart.

"I'm not even going to comment. Mrs Anders obs are fine but she's getting kind of nervous about the surgery. She wants to talk to you as soon as, apparently she's scared that it's going to hurt." _Oh for the love of…_

"She's having surgery of course it's going to hurt!" He shrugged at this and turned to walk away. "Karev, you seen much of Izzy today?"

"Nope she's been avoiding me like the plague, not that I'm complaining of course." I had to agree with that. "But there's just something not sitting right with me."

"What do you mean?" He sighed and leant on the wall beside me.

"I don't know I just have this feeling….maybe I'm going crazy but I have this feeling that something's going to happen."

"You're right, you're going crazy." The punch to the arm he gave me hurt more than I'm willing to admit. "Look, stop thinking about her. Put her out of your mind and focus your attention on lover boy."

That received another punch. As he walked away I couldn't help sighing heavily. He and O'Malley were obviously perfect for each other yet neither one of them was able to see that. So far I'd left it alone but now…now action was needed. If Steven's got her way then the two of them would never be together, don't be fooled that's what this was about. I'd worked it out by now that Izzy had feelings for either Alex or George, I couldn't decide who it was but it was the reason she was so against the two being together.

It was official, Alex and George needed to get together and fast. The longer they stayed apart the bigger the risk that Izzy would succeed. Decision made I sent a quick page off to Meredith, I was going to need her help here.

**Izzy's POV:**

This day sucked! There was no other words for it, it sucked! The pit sucked…life sucks!

Bailey had cornered me this morning as soon as I walked through the doors and basically told me I was on my last chance.

_Flashback:_

"_Stevens! My office please." Great, just great. I've barely even walked through the door and I'm already in trouble. Fantastic! _

"_Sit down please." Taking a seat I could feel the tension in the air. "Now I hope your suspension has given you time to think about what happened and about your actions of late."_

"_Yes I have. I'm sorry, I was out of order and I'm sorry." I had to swallow my pride and force myself to apologise. Of course I knew that all of this was Alex's fault, after all isn't everything? But for some unknown reason I'm the only one who can see him for who he really is, everyone else seems to be taken in by him. Not me though. _

"_Your damn right you were out of order, you almost killed a patient and tried to switch the blame on an innocent colleague." I had to bite my tongue at the innocent remark. "The same colleague that you've had an increasing amount of altercations with in the past few weeks. From now on you leave your personal life at the door, you and Karev are just colleagues. When you walk through that door you forget anything and everything that's happened. You focus on being a doctor and that's it." _

"_Of course." Bailey opened the door and I stood to leave. _

"_Stevens. You are walking a very thin line. Understand?" I nodded my head and walked off. If I'd stayed any longer I'd have hit her. Alex is the innocent party!? Yeah right. _

_End Flashback:_

Bailey's words only angered me more than anything else. She was acting like Alex had done nothing wrong, like he was some innocent victim in this whole thing. Give me a break. He's the one who caused all of this. He cheated on me and treated me like crap. Then he goes after my best friend, convinces him to move in with him and gets me suspended. How has he convinced the world he's innocent? He's got George, Meredith and even Christina believing him. But not to worry, I've got a plan. I'm going to make sure the world see's Alex for who he really is.

Unfortunately in order for my plan to work I'm going to need Alex on side. Which means…

"Alex, can we talk for a moment?" He looks up from the chart and looks me in the eye for a moment.

"Dr Stevens what would this be in reference to?" _Wait what?_

"Alex come on, we need to talk to…" _Swallow your pride, swallow your pride. _"…to clear the air."

"Dr Stevens unless this is in reference to a patient then I'm afraid I'm rather busy right now." He replaces the chart and turns to walk away. Grabbing his arm I pull him back.

"Alex. Would you just stop and talk to me?" He sighs before speaking.

"Look Izzy, unless this is about work I don't think we should be talking. Okay and I'm not interested in clearing the air. You and I are not friends, we never were and to be quite frank we never will be. So from now on we're colleagues and nothing more." With that he walked away.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

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**And I'm back. Sorry I've been away so long, I lost my passion for writing but I've managed to track it down once again. Bye.**


End file.
